The Truth About Love
by TheGreyLadyy
Summary: She thought she knew everything there was to know about love. Maybe she was wrong.


_**A/N**: Yes, yes I know. I should be working on_ _the next chapter of TSBU, because you guys deserve it after I left you all hanging for so long. But this idea just came to me a while back and it hasn't left me and it was just begging to be written. It's a different take to the whole Lily&James romance, a whole lot different from my other story. I'm still debating whether to start it during their seventh or sixth year, but we'll see, I guess. _

_This is just a prologue, to give you guys a taste of what's to come, so it probably won't make much sense. It's more of an explanation on how Lily sees love, if _that _makes any sense. It's short, I know, but it'll get longer the further along we get into it_. _The chapters, I mean. And I'll go into more detail of this chapter once the story progresses. _

_**Disclaimer**: The only thing I own about this story is the plot and a few OC's I'll introduce later in the story. I'm just borrowing a few of Rowling's characters but I'll return the back as soon as I've finished playing with them, I swear._

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**Prologue**

"I love you."

The words were blurted out of his mouth before he could stop them, aided, perhaps, by the half-empty bottle of firewhisky that had been set in front of him.

He looked as surprised as she, but had done nothing to take the words back. His hazel eyes found hers in the dark and she felt a pull, something telling her to let go and just _believe_.

But she didn't, because she had done that mistake already, of believing _those_ words.

The first time somebody had said it, she had been nine and innocent, holding on to the faith that fairy tales were real and one day a prince charming would come galloping in a majestic white horse into her life. She'd dream of the day when he would come and sweep her off her feet and the way he'd kiss her as they rode together toward their happily ever after. And, of course, she had believed him, her eyes shining wide as he stared up at him, the very stars shining in those emerald green orbs in wonder.

But those words had been followed by a gentle kiss pressed against her red curls, before he had picked up his suitcase and walked out of her life, taking a piece of her magic and innocence with him.

The second time it happened, she had been thirteen and had just discovered the fascination that were boys. The words had been whispered against her lips in between a touch there and _there_ and she had believed him, because she was young and inexperienced in the matters of love. She had thought she had found it, what all the fairy tales had always spoken about, in that tall, slightly older boy with the shining blue eyes and golden locks that fell past his eyes. And then had come the jeering laughs and sneering looks because if she'd let Casper Adamson touch her _there_, Merlin only knew how far she'd gone with other boys.

She had stopped believing in love a little more.

The third time around she hadn't even flinched, because the words meant nothing, especially not when the only reason they had been spoken was to apologise for calling her _that_ word. And he had sworn they did, because he loved her, he said and maybe if she just gave him a chance, they could be happy together. But it didn't matter how sorry he told her he was, or for how long he had loved her because, after all, those were just words and they didn't mean anything.

Love didn't mean much to her anymore.

He looked at her earnestly, as if waiting for the response she would not give as he passed a hand through his dark, messy hair.

Instead, she laughed cynically, shaking her head.

"Do you really?" she asked, dropping the lighted cigarette onto the ground, watching as the red embers shone in the dark. "Or do you just love the _idea_ of it?"

"How do you know I don't?" he asked defiantly, his husky voice slurring a bit against the alcohol.

He stood his ground as she regarded him with a long, hard look, his eyes boring into hers. He looked as if he believed he did, as if he had bought into all that crap that people spewed about _love_.

And she almost laughed at him, because love was a fickle thing, she knew, one that had caused wars to be fought, countries to have crumbled, destroyed families and had caused the deaths of millions of people, as countless men searched for that one love that would complete them.

Because love, they say, is everything.

But they were wrong. Those people tricked themselves into believing that love was good and love was great and it was something they just couldn't live without. And it was ridiculous, she thought to herself, the idea of your "other" half being out there, just waiting to sweep you of your feet and complete the other half of you that you weren't even aware you were missing.

She sighed, leaning her body close to his as she patted his cheek softly, her soft breath caressing his skin.

"Don't fool yourself, Potter."

Because love didn't work that way, she knew. Love took the best pieces of yourself away from you, picking and prodding until you were bare and exposed for the whole world to see.

Love wasn't at all what people thought it to be.

"Or maybe, _you_ should stop fooling yourself."


End file.
